Nicaragua- C, A, S

My trip to Nicaragua with a few classmates was the most successful of all of the CAS projects that I've completed! It really impacted the way we all see our lives, and was not always the most fun, but certainly the best over all. I had the role of organizer, translator when necessary, and at times babysitter... Needless to say it was a little stressful. But through everything, I learned about leadership- a good leader doesn't do things for others, but empowers them to do things for themselves. Ironically, that was paralleled to the message that the San Lucas Foundation wanted us to learn. Their job is to give Nicaraguan communities tools and opportunities to better their situation or condition, not provide a temporary 'band-aid' solution like handing out money to anyone that says they need it. I will take every moment, good or bad, from this trip with me in the future, and I feel as though all of my co-travellers will as well.

Our activity hours were as follows:


JUNE 11
soccer, mango picking and ping pong with my cousins and kids from the neighborhood (3 hours, A)
buying 1,100 plants from a local nursery to reforest the area of the Banco de Tierra that was burned by fire (3 hours, S)


JUNE 12
Iglesia de Renovacion Nazarena- Nicaraguan Protestant church experience
ping pong with the neighbors (1 hour, A)
hiking Volcan Masaya- Crater Santiago trail (4 hours, A)



JUNE 13
planting seedlings in the Banco de Tierra at La Conquista-  (10 hours, S)


JUNE 14
planting seedlings again, as well as taking care of the 2 team members that got sick (10 hours, S)


JUNE 15
planting seedlings (5 hours, S)
translating meeting with Banco de Tierra members and service brigade from Kansas in La Conquista (5 hours, C)
pizza dinner with San Lucas Foundation members and service brigade

JUNE 16
sports with at-risk youth in La Conquista community park (10 hours, A)


JUNE 17
6 hours La Casa activities with kids- board games, sports etc. (6 hours, S)
visit to Masaya's historical artisan market plaza


JUNE 18
learning how to play ultimate frisbee at Playa Maderas, San Juan del Sur beach (2 hours, A)

JUNE 19
church and 'relaxation'- also known as greeting my 50 relatives that stopped by the house we were staying in to celebrate my Tia Nora and Abuelita's birthdays, which fall on the same day


JUNE 20
ferry to the Isla de Ometepe from San Jorge and seasickness on the only lake in the world with freshwater sharks
hiking on the Isla de Ometepe- Punta Jesus Maria, Charco Verde, Ojo de Agua (4 hours, A)


JUNE 21
hike to see petroglyphs (2 hours, A)
ferry back to the 'mainland'


JUNE 22
Youth and the Environment celebration at La Casa in La Conquista (4 hours, S)
reading to youth at Biblioteca Semilla, Jinotepe and pastries at Anke's House (3 hours, C)
futbol at the court with new friends from church (1 hour, A)


JUNE 23
walking around Grenada, getting a flat tire, last-minute goodbyes to the San Lucas Foundation and family members